The invention relates generally to spiral binding machines, and more specifically to a personal machine for feeding a spiral coil through prepunched holes in sheets of paper and crimping the coil ends.
Machines for spirally binding sheets of paper on a commercial scale are generally known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,822 to Morris, issued Apr. 5, 1983, discloses driving a spiral coil between a mandrel and a drive wheel. The drive wheel and the mandrel are disposed along one edge of the stack of sheets to be bound. However, the mandrel guides the coil only until the coil actually commences to spirally engage the punched holes of the sheets. Accordingly, a critical difficulty in this type of arrangement is reliably guiding the spiraling free end of the coil along the length of the papers and through the punched holes in the sheets.
Another device that has been used to guide the feed of a spiral coil into engagement with prepunched holes in a stack of sheets is a coiling tool, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,592,242 to Sickenger, issued Jul. 15, 1971. The coiling tool includes a mandrel which is surrounded by slotted member. Wire enters the slotted member at one end of the tool in the form of a wire which, as it turns, feeds successively through the series of punched holes in the sheet stack. While the guide members may be disposed along the length of the punched hole edge of the sheets to assist in directing the movement of the spiral wire as it spirally winds through the holes in the sheets, there still exist possibilities for jamming or mis-threading due to tension building-up along the spiral wire.
Spiral binding machines of this type are relatively large and generally inappropriate for desktop or office use. U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,479 to Battisti et al., which is likewise assigned to the assignee of this application, is one attempt to provide a desktop spiral binding machine. The disclosed device includes a movable cartridge for feeding the spiral coil. U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,340 to Anthony, III, et al., also assigned to the assignee of this application, similarly discloses a desktop binding machine. Both units feed a preformed coil through a stack of sheets and crimp the coil ends to complete a single book at a time. Additional devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,632 to Stiles et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,308 to Hastings et al. Both the Hastings reference and Stiles reference use a feeding mechanism similar to those described above with regard to the commercial scale machines in that the spiral coil is driven into the punched holes of the sheets by a drive wheel at one end of the paper.
Use of these office or desktop binders is relatively labor intensive, requiring considerable lag time while the operator waits for the book to be bound and the coil is crimped so that the bound book may be removed and the next stack of sheets placed. Thus, the binding processes of each of these devices are relatively time-consuming. Accordingly, while sized for office use, none of these devices are particularly well suited for high volume, relatively rapid binding in an office atmosphere.
Moreover, these devices only provide for the automated binding of books of a limited thickness and limited coil size. Among other things, this is due to such structural limitations as the size of the feeding elements, the available movement and action of the feeding rollers or wheels, and the predetermined curvature of the spacing assemblies.
Spacing assemblies of spiral binders are provided to either curve or angle the stack of paper to a position which is, ideally, optimal to coil insertion, that is a position in which curve match that of the coil as closely as possible. Such spacing assemblies are typically in the form of pins which extend through the prepunched opening in the stock of sheets or a curve surface which is disposed against an edge of the stack of sheets. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,897 to DesJarnlais, at least two spacing assemblies are provided adjacent a platen such that the edge of the papers arch to a concave shape matching the curve of the coil. In arrangements such as that disclosed in the Sickinger ""242 patent, hooks extend through three ring binder holes in the sheet stack during the binding process. In the Stiles ""623 patent and the Hastings ""308 patent, the prepunched holes of the stack of sheets are positioned over locator pins extending upward through a platform or platen. Once the stack is secured in the desired position, the pins are retracted so that the coil may be advanced through the prepunched holes. In the Battisti ""479 patent and the Anthony, III ""430 patent, arcuate retractable locator pins are utilized to simulate the curve of the coil.
Inasmuch as these pin, hook, and curved surface spacing assemblies attempt to properly position the paper stack and/or simulate the curve of the coil to be utilized, only a given coil size or a narrow range of coil sizes may be inserted through the holes for a given spacing assembly. As a result, very small and very large books cannot typically be bound on such machines. While some machines may permit the spacing assemblies to be changed to allow for binding different book sizes, this is generally a time-consuming and labor intensive proposition which effectively eliminates the possibility of rapid binding for a large range of book sizes.
It is a primary object of the invention to provide a coil binding machine that may be used in an office environment or boutique copy store to reliably and rapidly assemble coils into a volume of books. It is also an object to provide a coil binding machine that may be quickly and easily adjusted to coil bind books having a wide range of sizes. A related object is to provide a coil binding machine that can bind relatively thick books in an automated process.
A further object of the invention is to provide a compact personal binding machine that may be utilized in an office atmosphere to bind a coil into a prepunched stack of sheets to provide a high quality bound book. A related object is to provide an automated personal binding machine that inserts a coil into a prepunched stack of sheets and crimps both ends of the coil, but minimizes interaction required by the user.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reliable, automated personal binding machine which consistently performs the operations of assembling a coil into a stack of sheets and consistently crimping the ends of the coil.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a personal binding machine that may be used to coil-bind stacks of sheets of a variety of sizes of thicknesses.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the disclosure herein.
The invention provides an automated machine that may be utilized for spirally binding coils of various curvatures into stack of perforated sheets. The machine may be used with preformed wire or plastic coils and includes one or two support surfaces for supporting the sheets. Relatively thick books may be readily bound by positioning stacks of sheets on both of the support surfaces such that the coil is spiraled through both stacks simultaneously. One or more coil guiding assemblies are provided substantially adjacent the lower edge of the support surfaces for guiding the driven coil through the holes. In the preferred design, three such coil guiding assemblies are provided. The assemblies are in the form of a pair of rotatably mounted drive rollers and an idler roller, each of which is mounted for movement within the machine to adjust the clearance distance to account for various coil sizes.
To properly position elements of the coiling station, including the various rollers, and/or the perforations in the stack(s) of sheets, spacing assemblies having one or more support surfaces or shaping surfaces are provided. Various sizes and shapes of spacing assemblies are provided to allow the operator to the binding machine to bind various sizes of coils into a stack of sheets. The physical location of the rollers relative to the coil are determined by engagement surfaces of the coil guiding assemblies abutting the support surfaces of the spacing assemblies. Similarly, the channel(s) formed by the perforations in the stack(s) of sheets are determined by the edge(s) of the stack(s) of sheets being disposed against the convex shaping surfaces of the spacing assemblies.
Once a coil has been spiraled through the stack(s) of sheets, the coil guiding surfaces separate, and the support surfaces pivot toward a vertical position to allow the book to drop down a chute in the machine and into a crimping station. The crimping station includes a crimper for crimping the ends, and a clamp bracket for holding the coil in place during the clamping process. Once the crimping operation has been performed, an ejector ejects the book from the crimping station, and book exits the machine under the force of gravity.